Lithuania under the Soviet Occupation, 1940-41: Observations and Operations by the United States

Throughout World War II, an independent Lithuania was occupied three times--twice by the Soviet Union and once by Nazi Germany. During the first Soviet occupation 1940-41, the international community granted the small country support in rhetoric but little in practicality. The United States, for example, refused to acknowledge the aggressive Soviet takeover, though it refrained from providing extensive support to Lithuanian-located refugees without American citizenship. In March 1941, the U.S. Department of State sought to analyze the daily life of Sovietized Lithuania and sent John F. Mazionis through the countrys closed borders. This article details power struggles within Lithuania imposed by Soviet Russia and by extension Nazi Germany.